Enduring Love
by Rosesdancinginmymind
Summary: After an accident Regina is caught in a realm between life and death. She only gets brief snatches of time in which to get Emma to help her get back to her family. Will Emma believe her and save Regina or will she think it is just a grief based delusion? Based on a prompt from Sanctuary Agent. Swan Queen.


_Regina gets caught in a realm in between life and death because of an accident and has to watch everyone she loves around her including Emma and Henry going on with life and struggling. They all think she is dead because her body is in their realm but her soul is trapped between worlds. Regina can only communicate with them briefly through their dreams and has to try to work with her grieving girl friend to get her soul back to her body. But she also has to convince Emma that she isn't going insane from the grief of losing Regina. - Sanctuary Agent_

_Thank you very much for the prompt. I don't own Once or its characters. Apologies for any mistakes and I hope you enjoy it :)_

It has been an ordinary day. She woke up wrapped in Emma's arms like always, kissed the blonde awake before hopping in the shower and getting dressed for work. She went downstairs and prepared pancakes for herself, her son and Emma. She kissed Henry on the top of the forehead before scanning his homework. She smiled at her family as she sipped her coffee and as had been happening more and more lately resisted going in to work early. Instead she left as late as possible eventually dragging herself away from their loving embrace before climbing into her car.

She smiled as she thought about her girlfriend and her son. She thought about surprising Emma at lunch and what they might have for dinner that night.

Then as her Mercedes crept towards the traffic lights Regina Mills' day was no longer ordinary.

Regina wakes slowly and frowns. She feels weightless and light. She knows instantly that something is wrong. She remembers being hit by a car and knows she should be hurt. Regina stands gingerly and takes in her surroundings. Her eyes take in the sight of nothing. Just emptiness in a cold white room.

She looks around but there is no escape. Regina looks down and sees her body intact. She can see a cast over one of her arms and various marks and bruises but she cannot feel them. _What am I?_ she wonders. She's not dead. She can tell that much. She can hear her heart beating and she can feel so much. She knows she's not dead.

The problem is that she doesn't feel alive either.

_Emma. Henry_.

Oh god. If she's stuck here then where are they? What do they think? She spins around the room but sees no escape. She sees no other. She doesn't know what to do. She has to get back to her family. There must be a way back.

"Someone! Please help me! What the hell is this place?!" she cries out desperate to find anyone who can explain this to her and help her find her way back home. Light dazzles her and a screen rises up from the floor. She gasps when she sees what's displayed on it. It's her. A tear rolls down her cheek as she sees her seemingly lifeless body.

Her heart aches even further when she sees Henry and Emma standing above her crying. _No_ she thinks _oh god no_. They think she's dead. She can see it all over their faces. "Please! Let me out! Let me get back to them!" she shouts pounding her fist against the screen. If they can raise this up then they can face her. She needs to know what the hell is going on. She can't leave her family now.

"Regina."

She turns at the ghostly voice and pales when she sees who it is, "Daniel?"

He nods before walking over to her, "Hello Regina."

"Daniel what is this?"

"It's the land of souls. It's neither life nor death."

"Why are you here?" she asks in confusion.

"I am here only to help you make a choice."

"What?"

"A choice between life and death."

"Life," she says, "Send me back there please Daniel! I love again. I have a girlfriend and son and I cannot lose them. Please!" she repeats desperately hitting her fists against him. He smiles softly before catching her wrists and looking into her eyes, "Listen to me Regina. It's not that simple. It's not just you making a choice. If you choose to live then you need to get through to your loved ones. They can reunite your soul with yourself but only you can help them."

"Then let me. I'll go right now. Just let me go home."

"Again it isn't that simple. You only get one dream. Fifteen minutes at the most. For the rest of the time you have to watch. You have to watch their grief and heartache. Can you watch that much misery Regina? Even if you do convince them it may not work. That is your choice Regina. Uncertainty and risk. Possibly raising false hope only to crush it as you watch them grieve. Or letting go."

"I can't let go Daniel," Regina says, "I let you go twice. I can't do it. I love Emma and Henry. We're family. I believe in them. They'll believe me Daniel. They will and I will find a way home."

* * *

Emma walks home numbly. She still can't believe it. She remembers saying goodbye to Regina that morning and watching her go to work. _If only I'd made her stay home_ Emma thinks as another tear rolls down her cheek. They say she's dead and yet something in Emma tells her Regina can't be gone. Her heart doesn't feel like it's lost its partner. Her soul doesn't feel like Regina's has been wrenched away. There's an emptiness from the lack of her physical presence but she doesn't feel like Regina is gone.

_I must be going mad_ she thinks dolefully knowing that her girlfriend, the love of her life, is lying cold in a hospital bed waiting for her to turn off the machines keeping her alive. Some tell her to let go, that there's no point prolonging this because Regina is dead but she can't. Every time she thinks about it her heart aches and it feels like she might die herself.

She can hear Henry sobbing in his room and it breaks her heart anew. There's nothing she can do to make this better. Nothing could make this better. Every part of this mansion is filled with Regina and Emma keeps expecting to see her come out of a room any minute now.

She doesn't.

Emma makes it to their bedroom and she falls onto the bed. She reaches for Regina's pillow and breathes in the scent she will never have again. It seems impossible to her that she will never hold Regina in her arms again, that they will never kiss, that there will be no more whispered conversations in the night, no more.

"I miss you so much Regina," Emma whispers as her tears dot the pillow beneath her, "I can't believe you're gone. I just, damnit Regina, I love you so much and I can't believe I lost you."

She sobs until her eyes close.

_Regina feels the soul realm shake and gasps in fear. She doesn't like this land. She doesn't want to be here and each jolt terrifies her. Each jolt makes her worry that someone will come to take her away for good. She needs time. She needs to get to Emma and get her to believe. _

_A form appears before her in silvery light and she gasps. Daniel was right. She gets to see Emma if only in a dream. She cries in relief as she sees the love she thought she would never see again. "Emma," she says and the blonde looks up. Emma takes in the white space and Regina and immediately starts crying. _

_"Oh god. Oh god. I am, I'm going mad. You're gone Regina. You're gone," she sobs. _

_Regina feels tears roll down her cheeks as she sees her girlfriend's grief. It makes her heart physically ache to see her family in such pain and their misery feels so palpable to her that it hurts. She waits all day just watching. She hates being forced to bear witness to their agony but she still has to watch because at least it means she sees them. _

_"Emma I know. My body is in our world but I'm here." _

_"What?" Emma asks in disbelief. _

_"Please Emma," Regina says, "You have to believe me. I only get a brief window of time here and I need you to get me back." _

_"I can't. You're dead Regina. Dead! And, I don't know this is just my brain trying to trick me or something but you're dead. I've seen your body. You're lying in a hospital just waiting for me to turn off the machines." _

_"You haven't turned them off?"_

_"No." _

_"Don't. Just please Emma don't. You need to believe me. Please just have hope and faith in me. I need you to just keep hoping. I know it's hard. I know. I know you think this is an illusion but it's not. It's me. I am here Emma and I want to come home." _

_"How can I know this is real?" Emma asks. _

_"I don't know how to prove that Emma," Regina says chewing on her bottom lip, "I love you." _

_A small smile etches its way onto Emma's face and she wishes Regina were physically alive to tell her that. "I love you too," she promises. She wants to believe. God she wants to believe but how can this even be possible? The doctors all told her that there was no sign of life. Yet she sees Regina. Is it just a dream? Emma asks herself. She knows it isn't. It doesn't feel like just a dream. _

Emma wakes with a start. She looks to her side on reflex and more tears spring to her eyes at Regina's absence. She puts her head in her hands as she starts to cry. A knock at the door surprises her. "Come in," she calls and Henry enters. "Can I sleep here?" he asks his voice hoarse from crying. Emma nods knowing they need each other now and that he wants to feel closer to Regina.

She hugs and soothes their son until he falls asleep and thinks of her dream once more. Part of her screams that it can't be real but her heart and soul need to think otherwise. _Please don't let it just have been a dream_.

* * *

Henry sits by his old castle. He leans against the old bench where his Mom used to sit while he played. It's so strange to him. He can close his eyes and remember being five or six and running up to her for juice or ice cream or even just to make a sandcastle. When he does that it almost feels like she's still there. It frightens him how real it feels. There's a whisper in the wind and a safe warm feeling that is just his Mom.

Except that he opens his eyes and she just isn't there.

"Oh Mom," he says into the cold empty air, "I miss you so much Mom. I know I spent a long time angry at you and that you still sometimes worry that I hate you but I don't. I love you so much Mom and I just wish you were here again."

Regina presses her hands against the ghostly screen keeping her here and slams both palms against it. Frustration builds as it refuses to budge. "Damnit!" she shouts bashing her hand against it again in the hopes that somehow she might just fall through and be back with her son. "I love you Henry," she cries as she rests her head against the glass. She wishes she could just be with him and soothe his tears.

All she can do is watch and she hates it. She takes a few deep breaths before reminding herself that she needs to be strong and that she needs to have faith in herself and Emma. Without them she has no chance to get home and she cannot lose that chance.

It has taken her so long to find and accept love again. After Marian returned she had thought that was it, that her second chance had come only to be lost again. Then Henry moved back in and told her he was there for her and she felt whole again. With her son by her side she learned how to love again and that there was still hope for her. As time passed Emma came in like a sweet storm. It happened slowly at first building between them before finally coming to a head in a fight turned kiss. Then just like that romantic love, true love, the kind she had long given up on bloomed anew.

She cannot lose love again. She cannot let Emma and Henry lose her either. They're a family and for the past day and a half she has had to watch their misery and their grief. She can barely stand it anymore. She hates knowing that they're in so much pain and she needs to be back with them. She knows that for both Emma and Henry their family needs her in it. It's how she feels when Emma or Henry are away for the night.

Except she is not away for the night. She's trapped in a realm of souls with just fifteen minutes of dreamtime to convince Emma to save her.

* * *

Emma climbs back into bed as soon as she can. In the rest of town she's faced with saddened pitying looks and reminders of her girlfriend's death. Here in this bedroom however she doesn't have to think about doctors pushing her to unplug machines or people offering her condolences. Here she can lose herself in memories of Regina and wonder if Regina can ever come back home.

That was what she said to her in the dream. She asked to come back home. Emma needs to know if it was just a fluke or if Regina will appear before her again. She closes her eyes and hopes.

_Like last night Emma appears in a flash of light and Regina runs over. Emma smiles in relief when she sees Regina. "Okay you're here again," Emma says, "So this is either really crazy or really real." She can't decide which just yet. _

_"It's real Emma," Regina replies, "I know you think it's crazy to see me but this is real. I promise you this is real." _

_"How can I know?" Emma asks, "I basically spend all day in bed trying to lose myself in memories of you so that I don't have to say goodbye. How do I know you aren't just a figment of my imagination so that I can keep avoiding turning off the machines?!" _

_Regina sighs, "Just have faith in me." _

_"I've always had faith in you," Emma says with a small smile. _

_"I know. It's one of the reasons I love you so much."_

_"I love you too," Emma replies, "Can I touch you?" she asks cautiously. _

_"I don't know," Regina says before stepping forward. Emma holds her arms out and hopes. She shivers as Regina slides into her arms. She can feel her. She can feel the weight of Regina in her arms and it feels real. "You're here." _

_"I am here," Regina says resting her head in her favourite spot, the crook just below Emma's neck. Emma holds her there. Even if this isn't real she's going to savour this moment because she's holding Regina and she needs it to be real. _

_"If," Emma says emphasising the if, "If you are real, how do we get you back?" _

_"I don't know," Regina admits, "They won't tell me. All I know is that I need to get my soul back to my body and I need my true love to do it. I need you to believe and to do it." _

_"I don't know if this is even real or just a delusion." _

_"Well," Regina says, "If it isn't you lose nothing more. I'm still gone but at least you tried. If it is real and you believe, you believe in love and you believe in me then I get to come home and we can be together again."_

* * *

Emma wakes up with those words ringing in her ears. She turns in her bed to see a photograph of her and Regina on the bedside table. She smiles looking at the two grinning lovesick people in the frame. She runs her little finger over the curves of Regina's smile and her face. It might be a delusion. But it also might not be. Emma loves Regina with every ounce of her being and she's not sure how much longer she can cope without Regina beside her. She needs her. Her heart and soul ache with every moment that Regina is gone.

She misses Regina so much. She needs her. Henry needs her. They're a family and Emma figures the least she can do now is at least find out if what's happening in her dreams is even a possibility.

"My condolences Miss Swan," Gold says as she walks in and Emma frowns. God she hates hearing it. Some of the people in town are genuinely hurt by Regina's loss. Others still hate, ignore or undermine her redemption and Emma does not want their condolences. She wants Regina back.

"Can I get her back?" she asks cutting to the chase.

"Pardon dearie? Regina's dead."

"But what if all of her isn't? Her body is dead but what if her soul isn't?"

Gold's eyes twinkle in recognition, "Having a late night visitor are we?"

Emma sighs, "For about fifteen minutes each night I see her and she tells me she can come home. She just needs me to bring her back but I need to know if it's even possible. I need to know if I'm just plain crazy or if Regina is really out there waiting for me."

He pauses before using his magic to reveal a book. He reads it in silence as Emma waits impatiently. She taps her foot hoping he finds something soon. The uncertainty is awful. She just needs to know whether or not it's possible. She's not sure can accept it if it isn't.

"It is possible," he says after a lengthy pause and Emma smiles slightly, "It is?"

He nods, "Yes though I have never seen it happen. It can occur in cases of true love. In some rare instances the soul splits from the body at the point of injury which is why Regina appears dead when in reality she is simply without her soul. The split occurs so that the soul can protect itself from total death and potentially be revived. It takes true love to restore the soul and the body."

Emma mulls it over. In Storybrooke it's certainly not the strangest thing she's ever heard of. She can't tell if he's playing her or not. If it's a trick it's a cruel one and she can only pray it isn't. If it's not a trick then it means she has a chance to get Regina back and for her true love is worth that chance. "How do I do that?"

"That dearie is up to you not me. Regina is not my true love, she is yours. This is your journey to make."

Regina watches as Emma talks to Rumple. _There's hope. _Emma knows that now and Regina knows that at least a little part of Emma believes or wants to believe. Regina hopes that will be enough. She needs it to be. Daniel comes up to her as she watches.

"Is she the one?" he asks.

She nods, "Yes. You told me to love again and I finally figured out how. Will you ever tell me how I can get back to her?"

"You heard Rumple. It's not my journey. It's yours and Emma's. It's up to you to focus your love for each other and find a way back home."

"You can't even give me a hint?"

He shakes his head, "No. All I can tell you is that you need to make your decision soon. Two more nights Regina and you need to either be back in your body or you are staying here."

"Two nights? You never told me there was a time limit to my choice!" she shouts in frustration. On one hand two nights is too long. She wants to get back to her family as soon as is physically possible. On the other she has no idea how she's going to figure this out in just two nights. She supposes she has no choice either way.

"Like all things Regina there is a limit. True love Regina can accomplish anything, even the impossible, given the time. In this realm there is a limit to ensure that once the choice is made there is no going back. Two nights Regina. Use them wisely," he says before beginning to walk away.

"Wait!" she calls out and he turns waiting for her to speak again, "If we don't succeed what happens to me?"

"If you succeed your soul goes back to your body and you live. If you fail then you die permanently. You don't end up in this realm but in whatever afterlife you're destined for."

Regina gulps at that. She really needs Emma to believe now. She knows that in order for this to succeed then they both need to believe. Emma going to Gold is a start but they need more than a start for this to work. She needs Emma to get her to her body and quickly. _Two nights_ she thinks, _two nights to get her to believe. Please have faith in me Emma._

* * *

_Regina paces the room anxiously as she waits for Emma to appear. Now she knows they're running on borrowed time she needs to make the most of it. After what feels like eons the light finally appears and she runs straight to it wasting no time in enveloping Emma in a hug. _

_"Whoa!" Emma cries in surprise as Regina flies straight into her arms. She can feel the panic radiating off of her love and it makes her panic. Did we miss our shot? She asks herself worriedly. "Regina what's going on?" _

_Regina pulls back to look at Emma, "We have one more night."_

_"One more night?" _

_"Emma we have to figure this out before tomorrow night or I'm stuck here forever. There's more. If we fail," she pauses, "I die." _

_Emma frowns, "Your body is already dead," she says forlornly. _

_"I know but if we fail then I am dead. All of me Emma. I really need you to believe in me now Emma. Please I love you so much and I can't leave yet. I can't leave you or Henry yet. I'm not ready." _

_"You're not leaving us," Emma says, "It's possible. I went to Gold and he told me that this could be real. I don't know if he was bullshitting me or not but if it's possible then I have to try. I have to because, even if it turns out this is just some delusion, I will hate myself if I don't. I love you Regina and I am nowhere near ready to let you go yet." _

_Regina smiles, "I believe in you Emma. Emma we have moved moons. We've travelled realms. We've saved our son and each other countless times. Through it all we've been together and we've overcome so much. I believe in us Emma because we've already been so far. I believe we can go further. I love you not just for who you are but for the potential of what we could be in our present and future. When I see you I see love and happiness. For a long time Emma I didn't believe I could have love like that but now I do. I believe and I need you to believe too."_

* * *

Emma wakes up with tears streaming down her face. She has today. Just today to find out if she's insane or if she can bring Regina back. Unlike other days she gets up immediately. Since the accident she's taken her time choosing instead to stay tangled in the reminders of Regina. Today she needs to know if she can have more than reminders and instead be reunited with Regina.

_I didn't even get a chance to tell her I loved her back_. She needs Regina to know. She replays Regina's words over and over from memory and lets them flood her heart. She lets them fill her with strength and hope. They've overcome so much together and she needs to believe that they can overcome this too.

She doesn't send Henry to school this morning. She takes him to the hospital. He frowns as they walk in unsure as to what Emma is up to. "Ma what's going on?"

Emma doesn't know how to answer. She doesn't want to tell Henry about her dreams just in case. Hope can be a beautiful thing but false hope can crush a person's spirit and she can't do that to Henry. If it works then they will be a family reunited. If it doesn't then Emma knows she has to say goodbye. She's only ready for one of those things to happen. She cannot say goodbye to Regina yet. She doesn't want to and she won't. Not yet.

Henry sees his mother lying there and his heart drops. He fears that this is a time to say goodbye. He doesn't look to Emma for confirmation. He doesn't want to. Instead his body gravitates towards his mother's.

"Hi Mom," he says, "They say you're dead but I still hope you can hear me. I think you can anyway. Either way I need you to know that I love you and that I will always love you. You're my Mom. It's how it works. I know you love me too and I would give anything if I could bring you back home because we need you Mom." He stops as his tears begin to roll down and splash on his mom's cheeks.

Emma sees the salty water hit and is reminded of how she saved Henry from the sleeping curse. She looks down at Regina before resting her forehead against Regina's. She leans close so she can whisper into her ear. She believes that Regina is watching them and that she can hear her. She closes her eyes before she speaks.

"I didn't get a chance to reply to what you said yesterday so here goes. I am hoping with all my heart that we succeed Regina. I haven't told Henry what's going on but I brought him because he's our son. We're a family Regina and I've always told you that we are strongest together and I believe that, kid included. He loves you and he's part of your home so I think he should be part of bringing you back. Anyway before I try this I want to tell you that I love you. I think what I have for you is an enduring love. If you don't what that is, well you probably do because you know all kinds of things, but just in case I'll tell you, enduring love is a love that never fades. It's a love that lasts forever. I love you now Regina and I will love you for the rest of my days and I believe that you are going to be next to me for those days. I love you," Emma whispers before she lets her tears fall onto Regina's cheeks.

"Kiss her," she says to Henry who looks at her with confusion.

"Just kiss her," she repeats.

"She's not cursed," he replies.

"I know kid but it never hurts to kiss your Mom and tell her you love her."

He nods before walking over and pressing his lips to her forehead. Emma kisses her too and thinks of Regina and the love she feels. She can hear her heart pumping in her ears as she focuses all her energy, magical or not, on her love for Regina. She thinks of their family and the life they've had so far. She thinks of the life they could have when this works. She feels a tingling underneath her lips and opens her eyes to see a white glow covering Regina. She doesn't break her kiss.

"What's going on Ma?" Henry asks again as he too sees the glow. It's magic but he doesn't know what kind. "Magic can't bring back people from the dead, Grandpa says it's a law of magic."

"But it can bring you back if you're not fully dead."

They both gasp at the sudden voice. Henry looks down to see Regina looking up at him and cries in happiness and shock. "Mom?" he asks. She nods and then his arms are around her and he's clinging tightly to her. She stretches her arms slowly, her muscles tired from four days lying stiff in a hospital bed, before wrapping them around her son. She kisses his forehead. "Oh my baby boy. My little prince. I love you so much."

"I love you too Mom. I missed you so much."

"I missed you too Henry," Regina says as tears fill her eyes. She never thought she would see him again or hold him in her arms. She holds him tightly to her knowing she will make sure she is there for him for as long as he can be. She looks up from her hold to see Emma staring at her, a mixture of awe and disbelief.

"You did it," Regina says with a smile.

At that Emma crumbles into tears before suddenly rushing to hold them both. She hugs Regina and Henry close to her before pressing desperate kisses to Regina's forehead and then her lips. "Oh god I really thought I'd lost you. You scared me so much Regina."

"I'm not leaving you yet," Regina promises as Emma holds her close. Henry scoots away a little so they can hug properly and Regina falls into Emma's arms resting her head on Emma' shoulder before kissing her lovingly again and again. "I love you so much Emma Swan and you're right."

"I am?"

"Enduring love. I loved you yesterday and the days before that. I love you today and I will love you forever and ever."

"Promise?"

"I promise," Regina says, "Forever Emma. I'm so glad you believed."

"I'm always going to believe in you Regina. I told you I would always believe in you. Faith, hope and love."

Regina smiles brightly, "Faith, hope and love," she repeats before pulling Henry back into their three-way hug. Today was certainly not an ordinary day but Regina hopes it's the first of many for her in the arms of her family.

_Always happy to hear what you think. Thank you very much to Sanctuary Agent for the prompt and thank you all for reading :) _


End file.
